Joseph Augustus Zarelli (Jan13, 1953 – February 1957), a little boy whose naked, horribly mutilated body was discovered on the shoulder of Susquehanna Road near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was formerly known as the “Boy in the Box” or “America’s Unknown Child.” on February 25, 1957.
Although Joseph had endured severe physical and sexually abused before his death, as evidenced by the numerous bruises on his body, it appeared that he had recently been washed and groomed. He also had a new haircut, and his fingernails had been trimmed. The young boy was discovered to be underweight as well.
The body was covered in scars, some of which appeared medical (mainly on his chin, groin, and ankle).
1. The Child in the Box was Discovered
How and where was the child in the box discovered? Here are all the details:
1.1 Details About the Place and Time of Discovery
Boy’s body, covered inside a plain blanket, was discovered on February 25, 1957, in the bushes along Susquehanna Highway near Fox Chase, Philadelphia. When he checked his muskrat traps, a young man found the body. He failed to disclose what he had discovered out of concern that the authorities would seize his traps.
A few days later, a college student saw a rabbit running into the bushes. He parked his car to look because he was aware that there might be animal traps nearby, and he found the boy’s body.
Also, he resisted making contact with law enforcement. The next day, after learning of Mary Jane Barker’s(missing girl) abduction, he did disclose what he had discovered.
1.2 Description of the Box in Which the Body Was Found
A cardboard box that once housed a bassinet similar to those marketed by J. C. Penney once held the naked body. The unknown boy had recently had his hair cut, maybe after he had passed away because clumps of hair stuck to his body.
The boy was found dead. There were surgery scars on the ankle, groin, and under the chin, and indications of severe malnutrition.
2. Investigations after the Discovery of the Body of the Boy in the Box
On February 26, 1957, the cops received the information and started an investigation. Police collected the young dead boy’s fingerprints and initially were confident that they would soon be able to identify him. Nobody, though, has ever come forward with any pertinent information.
Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley saw a lot of media coverage on the case. The Philadelphia Inquirer created 400,000 flyers featuring the boy’s face that was distributed, uploaded online, and sent with each Philadelphia gas bill.
2.1 Description of Evidence
A person’s blue leatherette hat, a children’s scarf, and a guy’s white napkin with the initial “G” in the corner were all found while 270 police academy cadets. However, none of these clues led anywhere. The victim was still known as America’s unknown child. Boy’s killer was still not found.
In the hopes of uncovering a clue, the authorities also disseminated a post-mortem image of the youngster, showing him fully clothed and seated as he could have appeared in life. A literal description of a young boy living.
It was done in the hope to spread the little boy’s story. The young boy’s body was dug up in 1998 so that DNA taken from a tooth, could be extracted for the dead boy’s DNA test.
The National Council for Endangered & Exploited Children made the victim’s forensic facial reconstruction public on March 21, 2016. He was also entered into their database. The boy’s body was exhumed again in 2019 to collect DNA samples.
3. Police Identification of the Victim
For many years, the boy’s identity remained unknown. However, its Philadelphia Police Department reported on November 30, 2022, that police investigators had finally identified the child using DNA analysis and genetic testing, and that they would release a case update the following week. According to accounts, he came from a well-known household in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
According to the authorities, the investigations would use the details to extend their search for suspects. The public first saw Joseph Augustus Zarelli on December 8, 2022, when he was 4 years old.
He was born on January 13, 1953. In October 2021, over a year earlier, genealogists had discovered his name. The identities of childbirth parents were revealed on January 19, 2023.
4. Some Controversial Theories About the Boy in the Box Case
4.1 The Foster Home
This theory focuses on the foster home approximately 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) away from the body.
A New Jersey psychic was contacted in 1960 by Remington Bristow, a medical examiner’s office employee who actively pursued the case till his death in 1993. He was instructed by the psychic to look for a house that resembled the foster home. Bristow was sent directly to the foster family after being brought to the Philadelphia discovery site by the psychic.
4.2 Story Behind the Foster Home Theory
Bristow attended an eBay auction just at the foster home, he came across a bassinet that looked like the one from J. C. Penney. Also, he found blankets that resembled the ones used to wrap the boy’s body when they first found him hanging on the clothesline.
In Bristow’s opinion, the boy belongs to the stepdaughter of a guy who oversaw the foster home, and his body was destroyed so that the stepdaughter wouldn’t be identified as the child’s unwed mother.
However, the police determined that every foster child was located, and a follow-up investigation by police detectives revealed that it was unlikely that the family was involved.
The investigation’s lead investigator, Philadelphia police detective Tom Augustine, and other former officers and profilers from the Vidocq Society talked to the foster father and the stepdaughter in 1998. (to whom he had wed) The foster home had been fully examined.
4.3 The Woman identified as Martha or “M”
In February 2002, a lady who identified herself as Martha, or “M,” and claimed that her parents had purchased the child and murdered him, put out a different explanation. Although they found her account credible, the authorities were worried by evidence of her major mental illness.
She claimed that in the summer of 1954, her mother and father bought Joseph off her birth parents, following which he suffered from physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Authorities failed to confirm her account. When neighbors gained access to Martha’s home, they refuted her allegations that a small kid had lived there and labeled them as “nonsense.”
4.4 Some other Theories
According to a scenario presented by forensic artist Frank Bender, the victim might have been reared as a girl. It was based on the child’s poor haircut, which seemed to have been done quickly. In addition, the impression of brows has been styled. 2008 saw the release of a drawing by Bender of an unnamed infant with long hair that matched the length of the body’s hair.
Two authors, the first from New Jersey (Louis Romano) and another from Los Angeles, Californian (Jim Hoffmann), thought they had found a possible identity from Memphis, Tennessee, and asked that DNA be matched between the relatives and the child.
4.5 Intricate Details About this Theory
The lead was created and submitted with Hoffmann’s assistance to the Philadelphia Police Force and the Vidocq Society at the beginning of 2013.
The lead was identified by a Philadelphia dude (who presented Romano and Hoffmann to one another). Romano learned about the lead in December 2013 and agreed to work with Hoffmann and the man from Philadelphia to collect the family member’s DNA in January 2014, which was then swiftly forwarded here to Philadelphia Police Force.
Local law enforcement said they would investigate the tip, but noted that they needed to know the additional conditions behind the leader’s relationship to Memphis before they could match DNA. Homicide
The Memphis man’s DNA was compared to that of the fox chase boy, and Staff sergeant. Bob Kuhlmeier accepted throughout December 2017 that there is no connection.
5. Burial of the Boy in the Box
First, Joseph Augustus Zarelli’s remains were interred in a potter’s field. He was reinterred in 1998 in, Ivy hill Cemetery near Cedarbrook, Philadelphia where a sizable site was provided.
The son of a guy who cremated the child in 1957 donated the casket, gravestone, and burial ceremony. The reburial drew a sizable crowd of spectators and received extensive media coverage. The grave is kept adorned by city residents with bouquets and toys.
The inscription “America’s Unknown Child” was written on the huge headstone when it was first put in place. Joseph’s name was added to the old gravestone, and a new memorial with his public identity was dedicated on Jan 13, 2023, which would have been his 70th Birthday.
6. Homicide Investigation Following Identification of the Boy in the Box
Philadelphia Police Chief Outlaw said that Joseph’s killing is “still an open homicide case. We nevertheless need the public’s cooperation” at a press conference in December 2022. Joseph’s birth parents are both deceased, according to reports from law enforcement at the same briefing, but he has living half-siblings.
6.1 Announcement of the Name of Boy’s Biological Parents
Joseph “was birthed to a husband and wife who resided at 64th and Callowhill,” according to NBC10 Philadelphia in January 2023. However, the channel noted that it was “ambiguous if he did live there for long enough for individuals to notice him.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer announced in January 2023 that Augustus J. Zarelli also referred to as “Gus,” & Mary Elizabeth (née Abel) Plunkett, also known as “Betsy,” were Joseph’s biological parents. The suspect of the boy in the box or America’s unknown child remains to be known to the world to date.
7. Conclusion
There is a headstone at the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Cedarbrook, Philadelphia, with the inscription “America’s Unknown Child.”
It is a constant reminder of the young boy found battered to death inside a box about 65 years ago and buried beneath it. He has since been referred to as the Boy in the Box. He was also called America’s unknown child.
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